Notes taken from Triangle Food Commons, March 29 meeting in Chapel Hill:

photo by Robert Donnan
Circle of Wisdom
Harvey Harmon (grower, eco-builder, Central Carolina Community College) — 10 things one person can do for local food security

Tandy Jones (Triangle Land Conservancy, farmer) – preserve farmland AND farming, 1,000 acres protected in Chatham Co., we must begin to work to protect smaller farms.

Rich Shaw (Orange Co. Lands Legacy) – 1,200 acres protected in Orange Co. Must demonstrate public benefits to voters. Smaller farms and permanence are key.

Mary DeMare (Chatham Marketplace Co-op) – local commitment is key for retailers

Robert Andrew Smith (Leaflight) – Alternative economy includes food system. Plenty (local currency) is stagnating but a new dollar-based alternative is under consideration. Local currency is essential for keeping a sense of place and community cohesion. We need to have ways for unpaid labor to still be valued.

Andrea Reusing (Lantern Restaurant, Slow Food Triangle) – programs such as Eat Local Triangle are key. The region can be a national/international model for regional food security through gatherings such as Terra Madre. The vision is for more restaurants to use our local resources.

Noah Ranells (Orange Co. Agricultural Economic Development, Fickle Creek Farm) – value-added food processing is important. Apprenticeships/incubators are needed. Buy local, production standards, and economy of scale are factors. Harmony is essential.

Ken Dawson (Durham Farmers’ Market, farmer since early 1980’s) – The Triangle is known around the southeast for its local food movement. We can serve as a leading model for regional food security.

Judy Lessler (Harland’s Creek Farm) – a high-tech approach to farming is key for viability. High-speed internet access allows home-based careers with flexibility for part-time farming. New technologies can include season extenders and other methods for increasing production. The key for farming in the region is to be modern, sustainable, enduring.

Brenda Brodie (SEEDs co-founder) – SEEDs focuses on reconnecting people in urban spaces with the land, and creates community through growing/cooking/sharing food. We need to understand the social and ecological consequences of our food choices.

Gerry Cohn (American Farmland Trust) – We must work with the realities of farm transition – up to 70% of rural lands will change hands in the next 15 years. The farm population is aging. Most heirs have no attachment to the land. 60 of 100 North Carolina counties have voluntary agricultural districts which encourage a 10 year agreement for farmland preservation. The NC Farmland Preservation Trust Fund allocated $8 million in 2007. The US Farm Bill needs your support if it is to include community food systems and farmland preservation – call your congressperson. With global climate change and other trends, farmers are being paid for the ecosystem services provided by their land.

Robin Kohanowich (Central Carolina Community College) – the Sustainable Agriculture program relies on a pool of local experts to help educate students, and provides them an opportunity to participate in the local food system.

Roland McReynolds (Carolina Farm Stewardship Association) – a number of today’s panelists are current or former CFSA board members. CFSA works with networks in NC and SC to promote sustainable community food systems, including the farm tours, annual conference, food guide, farm incubator development, and helping to launch Eastern Carolina Organics.

Mike Lanier (Orange County Cooperative Extension) – a proposal in Illinois is looking at reconfiguring farmland into 10,000 farms of 100 acres each for community food production.

Witness/Discussion
Patrick McGerny (Orange County Agricultural Preservation Board) – let us praise Wendell Berry and Wes Jackson.

Roland McReynolds – the 2008 CFSA conference will include Wes Jackson and Joel Salatin.
Judy Lessler – why do we have to have farm support programs? Why can’t farmers be paid enough to afford to farm, and to be paid the real cost to produce food?

Tes Thraves Center for Environmental Farming Systems) – Nancy Creamer has obtained a Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation grant for a statewide community food summit that can help the Triangle Food Commons group to avoid replication. Contact tes@unc.edu for more information.

Lyle Estill (Piedmont Biofuels) – some people will pay the real cost for food. We need a bigger pool of eaters (and drivers) in order to say goodbye to charity.

Debbie Gross – what if we had trucks to deliver local food to all of the developments that are built on farmland? The new neighborhoods could be markets for local produce. Lake Hogan Farms in Chapel Hill is one example.

Robert Andrew Smith – there is a state mini-mobile markets program to link farmers and residents. Contact Frida Butner.

Sam Hummel (student) – To deal with our food system, we must deal with our monetary system. We don’t understand how money works. The banks control the global economy. They create more money for corporate bailouts, not for farms and schools. Our ancestors would never stand for this – they demanded answers. We need food dollars (not currency).
Check out “Money As Debt� on YouTube, and the book “Web of Debt�.

David Hamilton and Sally Lee (FLO – Fresh, Local, Organic at UNC) – FLO was organized to connect producers, distributors and institutions. We are promoting cultural change on campus. In 2009 we will participate in the Real Food Challenge, a national program for localizing food at universities. Carolina Dining Services is working toward sustainability.

Lauren Coretto (Center for Sustainable Living) – with peak oil and the global environmental crisis, we are looking to create a change in culture by creating a sustainable intentional community on a small farm. We are working to raise funds.

Colina McClean (formerly with Earth Island Institute) – what about creating an “Ozone Safe Farming� label (similar to “Dolphin Safe� which I worked on). This could recognize foods that go beyond organic and avoid problems such as methyl bromide – a highly toxic pesticide that is also a major cause of ozone depletion.

Noah Ranells – the Center for Environmental Farming Systems is a great resource. The word “farms� shouldn’t be used to name a subdivision (it names what has been lost…it is phony). The state legislature passed a law prohibiting homeowners’ associations from banning solar panels. Farmers markets should only allow local farm products.

Rebecca Page – My family owns a 5th generation farm in Caswell County. My parents are 94 and still live on the farm. Most of the land is in forestry. I am the only heir and live in Raleigh. I want to preserve their legacy and explore ways to use the land to promote sustainable living.

Lucy Harris – I am with SEEDs. Access to healthy food is essential. Many people don’t have this access. I thought food security meant providing access for people without cars and money. Now I see it is broader, but affordable access to healthy food for all should be at its core.

Lyle Estill – we are looking at creating “Development Supported Agriculture� with a farm in the middle of a proposed golf course community.

Spence Dickinson – Robert Andrew Smith was instrumental in setting up a system for food stamps at local farmers markets. Time dollars are an essential part of a local living economy, and can be set up using credit cards to track hours.

Norma Burns – it would be helpful to have a visual diagram of this wide-ranging/interconnected discussion. Having programs for young growers is key.

Gary Phillips – how many farmers in the room are under age 30? 40? (about 8 people stood up, mostly under 30).

Bernadette Pellisseer is running for Orange County Commissioner – she understands the importance of what we’re talking about today.

Gary Phillips – conservation easements are an important, permanent means of saving farmland. Ideally, a farm would be established first and, if necessary, houses could be added within that context.

Tes Thraves – there is a national conference on the Politics of Food being held in Raleigh Sept. 22 – 24.
http://www.elpnet.org/foodtour/index.php

Noah Ranells check out www.OrangeCountyFarms.org (study for a regional food distribution center).

photos by Robert Donnan